It’s gummint. Why can’t it be both?

I’m only about half sucker; so I knew it wasn’t really true that Obama contracted helicopters to hover over Mount Rushmore with a big curtain.

But I assumed it was true that the Amber Alert system was shut down. Turns out Amber Alert, as a way of quickly notifying the public that a child has been abducted and is in immediate danger, is still functioning; it’s just the website that’s shut down because, if the website (not the program itself) is unmanned while the admins are furloughed, it’s vulnerable to hackers. According to the Huffington Post:

Amber Alerts are issued jurisdictionally. It’s the duty of local police, press and city governments to get information on child abductions out to the public. Law enforcement agencies still have the ability to get the word out via tweets, news broadcasts, cell phone alerts and road signs.

Glad to hear that, in this specific instance, innocent people won’t be suffering just because we have a two party system consisting of, as Mark Shea says, the Stupid Evil Party and the Evil Stupid Party.

As far as the government shutdown goes, the truth is somewhere between “This is all just impartial and automatic business, and there’s no reason to take things personally” and “This is all designed specifically to persecute the innocent and the needy.” Knowing what we know about the Obama administration and about the current crop of republicans, I have no problem believing that much of the shut-down effects were purposely and callously designed to make the public suffer because it makes a good bargaining chip/talking point. At the same time, knowing what I know about the lumbering, nonsensical, illogical workings of government, I have no problem believing that much of it is just how things shook out once the process was set in motion.

I believe that some of it is random if unfortunate, and some is spiteful and targeted. It’s government. Why can’t it be both?

And, not that anyone asked, but I believe that Ted Cruz is less of a shining, courageous knight and more of a self-serving maroon without two brain cells to rub together. Ugh. One thing you can be sure of, both parties are making money hand over fist from this debacle. Have politicians really gotten worse, or have I just finally stopped being fooled?

well put. I have been so frustrated with all this that I have refrained from posting my own thoughts. But you pretty much said what I have been thinking.

anna lisa

I mostly read my news, and skim quickly. I try not to get emotionally involved if something annoys me, quickly moving on the the next thing. What is still sticking in my craw is that while the average American household income has slipped down 6%, incomes in Washington D.C. have gone up 26%: Gummint for the Gummint by the Gummint, and screw everybody else, except for the 1%. . I think you need to do another piece on cute furry creatures, or your kids, or both.

Melissa Hunter-Kilmer

I used to work in DC, and I can tell you that 99.9% of the people who work there are not politicians. It’s practically an inflation-proof city, is all, because since when does the gummint shut down? As it turns out, practically never, but that “practically never” is currently happening.

Frank McManus

There’s more to it than that, isn’t there? Have you read This Town? The amount of money flowing into DC (and its wealthy suburbs) has skyrocketed over the past several decades. DC isn’t just politicians: it’s politicians, lobbyists, bureaucrats, journalists, think tanks, etc. — and the staff that supports all that — and those folks are just rolling in money, and constantly plotting to find ever new and more devious ways to get more. And they’re doing it at the expense of the rest of the country.

Melissa Hunter-Kilmer

Sure, there are a ton of people who work with politicians. You’re naming those who actually work with politics. I’m thinking about teachers, mechanics, dry cleaners, etc., inside and outside the Beltway—my daughter who teaches choral music part time, my son-in-law who works for a small law firm that doesn’t deal with politics, my brother the contractor, my nephew the programmer, etc. Their salaries go up because the cost of living goes up and the tax base goes up. But they have nothing to do with politicians. Most of the DC area is like that.

Frank McManus

Oh, of course, yes. I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. I grew up in Maryland and lived in DC for a couple of years. There are lots of “normal” people there, though I suppose one of the reasons the cost of living goes up so fast in that area is precisely because of so much dirty money flowing in that’s related to political activity. Without all those millionaires and near-millionaires, the teachers, lawyers, contractors, etc., would have a lot less business, directly or indirectly.

Then there are the people whose salaries — or more exactly, whose hourly wages — don’t come anywhere near to keeping pace with the cost of living, and more and more they get pushed out to the nastier areas of PG county.

I was responding to DC as our main symbol of national corruption; but you’re right, we need to remember the real citizens there, too.

bob cratchit

You are so right on every point. Your whitewash of Cruz though…

Sheila Hughes

This verse comes to mind when I think of politics in our country from Psalm 20:7 “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.” I get so weary with the obvious disdain for us serfs and how the vulnerable are used as political pawns.

richard

Yes. All this is frustrating to say the least. It makes one want to shout out: Please get it all together. What’s the problem.

DeirdreMundy

Politicians have gotten worse. You have to be a sociopath to make it to the national level these days. Everyone decent drops out rather than putting their families through the spotlight….

MightyMighty11

It seems like most of the blame lies with the left–given that a lot of the bizarre shut downs, like open air monuments and views of scenery, are coming from the current administration.

I don’t love Republicans across the board, but I think it’s worth noting that many of them are a lot less evil than the average pro-abort Democrat. It seems counterproductive to not give the many of them that do respect marriage, life, and freedom of faith any credit by lumping them in with people actively tearing at the social fabric of our civilization. Republicans biggest weakness is PR: being misunderstood and inarticulate. Democrats biggest weakness is being ra-ra excited for abortion, the destruction of the natural family, and respect for other people’s right to life, liberty, and property. So, pretty different.